A-level results

I did it. I got A-grades in all five subjects. I'm going to Oxford.

I don't have the paper on me, as I gave it to my mother for safekeeping. So I don't have the exact stats on me, but I do remember that I got full marks and nearly-full marks on my Politics and English synoptic modules, and fucked up Ecology/Environment pretty spectacularly, which surprises me, but I have to say I don't really mind about the specifics (though I may write them down later for posterity). What matters is that I got the five A's, and that I got well into the A-grade boundary (a hundred marks in for English, and about fifty for all the others) for all of them - that is, English Language and Literature, Politics, Chemistry, Biology and General Studies.

It hasn't sunk in yet, though I've texted and phoned so many people. This is just what I wanted, I couldn't have done better, and it's... argh. Um. My offer was three A's.

Actually, it's all a blur now. I ran in at nine thirty this morning and Mrs Custard yelled, "IONA!"

I did a full turn on one heel. "Huh?"

"We need you for the Crosby Herald photo! Get down here!"

"But," I said, "but but but I haven't actually got my results yet and I could have failed everything..."

She gave me a Look. "Trust me on this one."

So I went, but it turned out they wanted me to hold my results up with everyone else, so I ran back upstairs again. I opened them, sighed a deep sigh of relief and ran down to have my picture taken. Apparently I'm going to be in next week's Formby Times and Crosby Herald. And once the pictures had been done with, I joined in hugging and congratulating everyone else. Sarah, Laura, Fidan and I all have five A's - so do Julie and Sarah Hillman and a host of others, thirteen in total - and a few more have four. We all have the grades to meet our first choice offers, everyone is ecstatic. Sarah looked at me and said, "We're going to be NEIGHBOURS!" and crushed me suddenly. I didn't mind being hugged by people all over the place. It's wonderful.

And after a while I ran out to tell my mum, who whooped and hugged me regardless and spent hours fumbling for her glasses and grinning like the Cheshire Cat, and then I rang Pedar, and also Hannah and Colleen and Patrick...

In the end I found myself being taken by Sarah to Southport, where we wandered round with Fidan and Laura, laughing and talking with as much exuberance as humanly possible. (At one point I said, happily, "We've passed our A-levels!"

"Yeah?" said a random guy coming the other way. "What'd you get? Where are you going?"

"Five A's, I'm going to Oxford," I told him, and off his look, everyone around burst into laughter.)

We had lunch at Frankie&Benny's, and went to see Madagascar for lack of anything much to do. I'm home now and very very tired and just happy, really.